Heritage Irises like to spoil our online visitors with the very new as well as all our Iris Heritage and it is indeed an honour to display all five Introductions by Anton Mego for the year 2012. Anton has alsoadvised that only he will be selling these Irises commercially this season. As always, clicking the image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.

Heritage Irises like to spoil our online visitors with the very new as well as all our Iris Heritage and it is indeed an honour to display all five Introductions by Anton Mego for the year 2012. Anton has alsoadvised that only he will be selling these Irises commercially this season. As always, clicking the image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.

Heritage Irises like to spoil our online visitors with the very new as well as all our Iris Heritage and it is indeed an honour to display all five Introductions by Anton Mego for the year 2012. Anton has alsoadvised that only he will be selling these Irises commercially this season. As always, clicking the image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.

Anton Mego writes, "GARDEN PLEASURE is a garden
lighthouse. Beautiful contrast between the standards and falls.
Standards are creamy yellow with darker veins. Falls are wine-magenta,
center of petals are lavender blue. Falls margins are thin creamy brown
lined. Nice form and wavy blossoms make Garden Pleasure really
charming. State of health and also the growth is very good. Stalks
branch out really nice with at least 8 buds. Good parent".

Heritage Irises like to spoil our online visitors with the very new as well as all our Iris Heritage and it is indeed an honour to display all five Introductions by Anton Mego for the year 2012. Anton has alsoadvised that only he will be selling these Irises commercially this season. As always, clicking the image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

I have very limited information regarding the
1970-80 period of median irises,( As you can see below more
information has come to hand since the original post date.) and I
can find nothing about the Intermediate Iris 'Shampoo,' there is
no mention of it in the AIS bulletins (I own a limited collection
so lacks depth for this and other periods). I also just purchased
35 American Iris Catalogues from the sixties and seventies and
eighties and surprisingly there is no listings of it in them. Now
I find this unusual as the Iris received an Honorable Mention
1978, Award of Merit 1980, and the Hans and Jacob Sass Medal
1984, someone must of given it a great review somewhere. It is a
vigorous Iris which handles neglect and I know this is true as
it was originally growing in a 'heel in' bed over by the Woolshed
and that I had thought I had lifted everything and transferred to
some other gardens closer to the house. I went back the the
temporary 'heel in' bed during the bloom season and there she
was, pushing up through the weeds, (over at the Woolshed weeds are
referred to as pasture) flowering its socks off, almost like a
desperate plea, 'WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET YOUR ATTENTION??? THIS
IS MY BEST SHOT!!!' So its a keeper no doubt about that, and yes
its another of those 'Historic Iris' with ruffling.Cottage Gardens, Hayward, California, 1977 Catalog.
SHAMPOO (Virignia Messick, 1977). IB, E, 18" Yes, a ruffled
intermediate bearded of a different color. A very ruffled bronzed
gold self, with a perfect branch. It really is the color of a
popular brand shampoo, and its new to this class (Cambodia X
Gingerbread Man) HC '76. $10.00Eden Road Iris Garden,Wenatchee, Washington, 1979 Catalog.
SHAMPOO (Messick '77) E. 18 in. (Cambodia X Gingerbread Man).
Ruffled bronzed gold self. Should be great to cross back to TB
browns. We want to use it with Melted Chocolate. H.M.
'78.....$6.50

4~ Square Iris Gardens, Eau Claire,Wisconsin, Cold Climate
Iris, 1983.SHAMPOO (Messick 1977) Ruffled bronze-gold selfThe reason I have included this short and to the point listing is that the catalogue
states 'plants are grown in a very harsh climate. Temperatures
from -40°F in winter and up to 100°F in the summer. Coupled with
the harsh climate is a short growing season' this would most
likely indicate 'Shampoo' is a hardy iris.

The Iris Yearbook (BIS), 1990, “Shorter Bearded Irises in
1990”, page 61, C.E.C. Bartlett.Another older variety which is always good is 'Shampoo' (Messick
'77). It's strange greenish khaki colour is not to everyone's
taste but bud placement and flower form are impeccable. In the
right place in the garden where its colour can be complementary to
soft yellows, limes and greens it is superb. Needless to say its
immaculate form and placement make it perfect for Shows and floral
art.

This Iris can only be purchased in New Zealand for the very reasonable price of $8.00 this season from Dublin Bay Irises ( A link is listed in the left hand column Recommended New
Zealand Iris Growers.)

A big Hat Tip to Keith Keppel for his candid observations and the above catalogue listings.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Truly wonderful new entries into the New Zealand
iris world are few and far between but every now and again even my iris world gets a
surprise.

Its a sensational Iris that caught me completely unaware arriving in the form of a
photo sent by Carol Rogerson the owner of South Pacific Epiphyllums who
grows this iris. I had never seen this iris before even though it was
registered in 2006.It could of been called 'Caught me by Surprise' but then again when
thinking of the varieties Ron has introduced to date he could of also have called it 'No Surprise Really' and I would have had to agreed.Now I know that the irises of Ron Busch have not had a smooth ride to success but you can't keep a good thing down forever.Nothing like a visionary emissary to remind us of the wondrous Irwell Iris we all have to look forward to in the coming years.
I have had the privilege of reading Ron's very complicated Breeding
notes and whilst the original registration states the parentage as
'Involved Irwell seedling lines', I have taken the liberty to fill in
the missing parents. It does seem that broken color is most often linked
with plicata, one way or another, and you will note the inclusion of
various plicatas on both sides of the parentage.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Yesterday the future arrived, doesn't happen often
but that's the outcome when Keith Keppel's Iris Catalogue arrives in the
post. Each catalogue received becomes part of the truly amazing
continuum from one of the hybridising Giant's of the Iris world. It's
just to bad Importing Irises to New Zealand is a wee bit tough at the
present time!! Anyway for those visitors to the blog lucky enough to
live in the USA go and buy yourselves some classy Irises.
Catalogue also contains a very large listing of Barry Blyth's Irises.
Keith does write however, that this is the last year to purchase
a wide selection of irises before....if plans are carried
through...next year they will transition from a catalogue format to a
limited listing.
This has become an annual event for Heritage Irises and I only received an email from Keith 2 days ago telling me among other
things that the Catalogue was on its way so no complaints with the
postal service this time.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

An absolutely must have for a sixties historic iris collection is the sensational 'Prince Indigo' It creates a staggering picture in the garden and one of its most important qualities, in my opinion is its extremely vigorous growth that produces top quality stalks that can carry up to nine buds each of a truly distinctive lustrous purple colour with good form that will not be mistaken for any other Iris.

Schreiner's Iris Lovers Catalog 1964SUPERLATIVE NEW IRIS FOR 1964PRINCE INDIGO (Schreiner 1964) L 38"If space limitations restricted one to growing only 'TEN OUTSTANDING IRIS' one selection ought to be the finest deep violet obtainable. Since the days of Madame Gaudichau, deep violet has been recognized as one of the great color categories among iris. It's a hue found but rarely in the Floral Kingdom. This year, for the first time in many years, we have a magnificent representative of the class to offer Iris Fanciers. PRINCE INDIGO cannot be called a novelty because of any peculiarity of color or form. It achieves uniqueness through sheer quality. The rich pansy violet hue, the absolute even coloring throughout, the glistening, luxurious pile, the generous size, superb branching and aristocratic bearing stamp this as an iris classic. The illustration here shows only part of its richness, it fails to show the the extra broad form characteristic of this worthy iris. No. R 631-1 $25.00

Sunday, January 1, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!!
I thought this an appropriately named heirloom iris to celebrate the New Year.

NEW DAWN' is an Iris with star quality in both parentage and
colouration. In 1928 Emily Jean Burgess (later Jean Stevens)
somehow crossed the early flowering William Rickatson Dykes-bred,
pearly white coloured 'Moonlight' with Sir Arthur Horts' late
flowering purple bi-colour iris ‘Hermione’. The resultant
seedling with no description of colour or form was only ever
labelled 'E97' and in 1931 Jean crossed it with Arthur Bliss’s
'Mrs Valerie West' to produce the clean and finely textured
primrose yellow cultivar. On its release in England, 'New Dawn'
was often compared with 'Helios' which in the early 1930s, along
with W .R. Dykes were the standard-bearers for yellow irises.
These had clean yellow standards with yellow falls that were
reticulated, generally in a tone of light purple brown.'New Dawn'
was a triumph in light yellow breeding because of its clean
colouration on the standards and falls and was without doubt at
least the equal to the introductions of the late 1930s in the same
colour range, such as 'Happy Days', 'Golden Bear','Lady
Paramount', and 'Primrose'. Jean had a firm opinion on striation
or reticulation and often noted that it was a fault in Irises, as
its presence almost invariably detracted from the purity of the
colour tone. She also used the term 'rough' in reference to
veining.
'New Dawn' is an Iris with vigour, large numbers of bloom and has
excellent increase, outperforming most of the more modern Irises. The large buds of intense primrose are a feature in themselves. Found growing in a garden in Carterton, my plants were given to me
by the garden owner who had surplus plants established over the
fence, growing alongside the railway line. Vigour is as good as
'Magnolia". Its the pollen parent to the New Zealand heirloom white iris 'Wychnor' featured on the blog last November.Last years bloom season (2011) it was no match for the 140 km an hour winds that
attacked our gardens in October, the blooms stalks just fell over,
but all I had to do was stake the very numerous stalks and 'New
Dawn' just continued flowering through the season for another four
weeks - it was just like nothing had happened. The above photo
was taken after the storms

The Iris Yearbook 1937 (BIS)
Seedlings Seen, R.E.S.Spender writes
New Dawn (Stevens)-- A seedling raised in New Zealand. It is a
splendid grower, and is much improved Helios in colour,a pale
lemon-yellow without streaks, and a fine shapely flower of real
merit. It is I am told a Moonlight -Valerie West derivative.

The Iris Yearbook 1940 (BIS)
Some promising New Zealand Irises, Mr G P Baker writes
New Dawn, a straw coloured white, was particularly strong with
three very massive flowering stems. The others were not quite of
the same substance

The Iris Yearbook 1942 (BIS)
Discursions of an Iris Breeder, R. E. S.Spender writes; [Ref 1]
"The truth is Golden Hind (and its numerous descendants) has now
given me all the yellows I could want or even find room for and I for
one shall not attempt any further crosses with what is
nevertheless the best parent for yellows I have yet come across,
so just why it should be so, in view of its distinctly plebeian
parentage, is one of those mysteries of hereditary which is
impossible to fathom.
About the same time that I started on these crosses I received the
big yellowish-cream New Zealander, New Dawn from its raiser Mrs W.
R. Stevens. New Dawn is (Moonlight x Hermione) X Mrs Valerie West,
and is therefore, I should judge-assuming Moonlight to have had a
good deal to do with the production of W.R. Dykes-not wholly
unconnected with Golden Hind. No two yellows could be much more
dissimilar, however, in build, and I should certainly not have
used it except for lack of other material. It too proved an easy
as well as valuable seed parent, though, unlike Golden Hind, it is
not apt to produce the shapeliest of seedlings. But they have
substance, they are always large and stout growers, and now and
then one may get a perfect seedling from it. Crossed with Purple
Dusk, it produced a really superb white, spangled with a gold
dust, which is different from any other I know. I should think it
may prove one of the best seed-parents now available although a
good many of the seedlings from it may be inferior in form. But Mr
Long, who has used Valerie West far more than I have may very
likely have a good reason to challenge that."
Stevens Bros Catalogue, Bulls New Zealand 1937-38
NEW DAWN (Stevens)
Another outstanding seedling of our own raising which already has
been highly commented upon in England. Of particularly heavy
substance and finest texture, this Iris will stand up to a adverse
weather conditions better than any variety we know. It has a
vigorous constitution and a long flowering period. The large well
formed flowers are a clear lemon entirely unveined. One leading
English Iris critic has described New Dawn as "Superb in every
respect" 3ft.

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man".

George Bernard Shaw

WELCOME

HERITAGE IRISES

INDEPENDENT ALWAYS

Welcome to Heritage Irises, and
do make yourself at home. The blog shares the magic of Irises and
will feature some very special New Zealand raised varieties
including the brilliance of our very own Jean Stevens (1900-1967).
Each and every iris growing in New Zealand are a part of our Iris
Heritage and will all become historic or heirloom irises one day so
why not start early and give them all a good home! Writing and
researching about heirloom irises is just a hobby and the blog is my
diary notes and observations of the Irises I grow and like at
home.I'm really enjoying myself, although blogging is a lot like a
virus that invades the mind and body and you can't rid yourself of
it, in the nicest possibly way of course. Click on any photo to view
a larger image.

They took all the trees And put them in a tree museum Then they charged the people A dollar and a half just to see 'emDon't it always seem to go,That you don't know what you've got 'Til it's gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot Yellow Taxi

Joni Mitchell

A 10 year old 5.1 mega pixel Fuji Finepix S5600 digital camera has been used exclusively for all photos able to be viewed on the blog that are accredited to Iris Hunter. Why such an old camera you may ask? Well its an easy camera to work with, but more importantly it reinforces my view that you don't have to invest thousands of dollars in equipment to produce a reasonably swish Blog

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